Feather in Hand
by Allekha
Summary: After one of their lessons, young Haruitsuki asks the Executive about his crow form.


Usually, at the close of the day's lessons, the Executive would watch Itsuki busy himself for a few minutes, putting away the books and supplies they'd used, before Aoi came to retrieve him and he could return to his own never-ending work. It was a bother to take time away from the rest of his busy day to teach, but even he had to admit that Aoi might have been on to something with this particular human. Itsuki was serious and tried to study and be helpful; he had yet to do anything that could possibly hurt a youkai. If raised properly, he might end up as, essentially, another youkai in a human body, with human strengths and weaknesses and powers... and there were uses for that.

"Executive," Itsuki asked, and he glanced down. Such a tiny child, with such big eyes. "Can I ask a question?" When he nodded, Itsuki fiddled with the neat stack of books on his desk, then looked back up. "What does your other form look like?"

"Black," he said, and tried to think of how to describe it; he was more aware of how it felt and its effects on others than his own appearance. "Sleek. Glossy. Intimidating, apparently."

"I've never seen it." Another question, disguised as a statement. Good boy.

"Aoi said that it's too scary to show you."

"Is it scary? The Justice and the Legislator aren't scary at all."

It was true that Itsuki had never blinked twice at the Justice's cat form; he'd fallen asleep on him enough times to make clear what he thought of it. The Legislator's newt form was less _scary_ or _creepy_ than something that made the Executive itch to dig his claws into him to make him stop moving, if he looked at him for too long.

"It's also not very convenient for work, and I don't have much opportunity to use it nowadays, I'm afraid. Bird claws aren't meant for holding brushes and papers." When Itsuki cracked one of his tiny smiles, the Executive looked him over again and considered – Itsuki had never been scared of youkai in the normal human way. Aoi was probably just being over-protective, always so concerned about him. "Would you like to see it?"

Itsuki nodded, and the Executive took a few steps back. The room was almost too small for his giant crow form, but there was just enough space. It was so freeing to let go of this human disguise, to feel himself change back into his natural feathers, limbs becoming claws and wings, the colors in his vision shifting.

When he looked again, Itsuki was wide-eyed. But with curiosity, not with fear. The Executive didn't move at first, except to settle into his new feathers, and to tilt his head for a better view. Itsuki stared, and stared, and eventually reached out with one hand, tentative, and glanced up.

The Executive had rarely been touched at all in this form before, and certainly never by a human; but there was no glow of Influence on Itsuki's hand, not in the slightest, and he was clearly only curious. So he didn't stop Itsuki as he slowly reached out and brushed the feathers on his side, and as his touch got a little bolder, he even extended his wing so Itsuki could see better. Strange child. No fear at all evident in him, even in this form that should have paralyzed him with terror, as so many before him had been. He simply moved closer to the wing and delicately touched the feathers, examining how they were laid out.

It was impossible to miss Aoi's approach, with a presence like that. There was no time to shift back, even if he'd been repentant. "Executive, what did I say?" Aoi sighed from the door. Human form, today, the elegant kimono not ruffled a bit, but with a displeased expression.

"I asked him to show me," Itsuki said before he could say it himself. He'd turned toward Aoi, but there was still a hand on his wing.

"I see," said Aoi, face easing after a few moments. Itsuki went back to looking at the wing, while Aoi raised an eyebrow and leaned into the doorway, smiling at the Executive. Clearly thinking that his showing Itsuki this form and letting him touch it meant more than it did.

He couldn't raise an eyebrow back like this. So he pretended he hadn't seen it and extended his wing a little further into the cramped space of the room. Itsuki wasn't affected even with him in this form, even with Aoi right there, too, when any other human would have been fighting for breath under the combined weight of their presence. A good thing that Aoi had found him, then, before he figured out how to use his powers against their kind.

With a shake of the head, Aoi became a cat, black as the Executive's feathers, and trotted over to Itsuki. "Maybe we should stay here in his nest tonight. He's almost as soft to sleep on as the Justice, you know."

"Aoi," he said, warning – it was one thing to let their little human touch him a bit, but to be treated as a feather pillow as going too far. But Aoi was always hard to say no to, whether it was requests to go drinking together when he should have been working, or announcements that a human was the newest employee of the Mononokean. He already suspected he was going to give in to that cat's-grin, and find himself with two small companions tucked under his wing tonight.

* * *

A/N: Written for the prompt: wings. Couldn't resist after the last few chapters.


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